Originally Posted by John Moorehead

Aight....back for more.

The other option for the front (besides coils alone) is a set of new control arms. DJM makes the only set. The benefits are lighter arms, ball joints (included) that are designed to work at that geometry, and polyurethane bushings (firmer than stock; allows less flex in the bushing area).

Control arms are desinged to be used with a lowering coil. Most front drops using control arms end up totalling about 4 inches lower than stock...which will cause stock diameter tires to rub.

While more expensive, control arms are better in the long run I believe, if for nothing else than maintenance. BUT, I've still not found out 100% if control arms can be used with stock springs....can't get a straight answer. The benefit of this would be only lowering the truck 2", allowing you to use stock diameter rolling stock.

REAR SUSPENSION:
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In the rear, we don't have many options. A sway bar definately helps. Like Bob said, don't go crazy in the rear unless you've matched the front to it. You want the front to have a stiffer bar for two reasons:

A) to combat understeer, something our trucks are plagued with...if the front rolls too much, it "plows" through corners. In other words, the rolling action makes the truck want to continue rolling straight. If you decrease the weight's ability to shift (stiffer bar) you thereby decrease the inertia's ability to pull you forward. Result? You make the corner; faster, and with less lean. Win-win.

B) Stiffer bars in the back will cause the inside wheel to lift during hard cornering, and if that wheel is the only powered wheel (if you have an open diff) or even if you have a differential that relies on the other wheel's torque (torsen) the truck will cease to accelerate out of the corner until the wheel makes contact with the ground again. Not a life or death situation, but undesireable at best. It will DEFINATELY slow you down in corners.


Now, also, the rear can be lowered in two ways:

A) Monoleaf -- A single leaf spring tuned for handling and lowering, and nothing else. So if you still want to haul stuff, see option B...

B) Flip Kit. This positions the axle ABOVE the leaf pack, simply moving the axle closer to the frame and "lowering" the rear. In this case, blocks that truck guys normally use for lifting can now be used for lowering, because they position the axle even closer to the driveshaft...not good for handling. The flip alone is PLENTY. In fact, a flip alone will yield a 5" drop, easily. And you still use the stock leaf pack, so you have more hauling ability than a monoleaf.

The solution for bringing the rear "back up" to a more subtle and practical 3-4" drop is to use lowering shackles from a fullsize truck. Yes, Lowering shackles. On Rangers, they actually "lift" the truck by moving the rear mounting point for the springs further away from the truck's frame. NOW, the rear is lowered anywhere from 3-4"....much better for handling that the 5"+ from the flip by itself. You want some distance between the frame and axle for proper suspension articulation.

There is one ugly side effect of the shackle...Pinion angle interference....

See this article I made on RPS for that info....TOO MUCH TYPING.
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http://www.rangerpowersports.com/tec...ibration.shtml

Tired yet?

Now that all that's aside, you would then have a truck that handles well....

See my website for my suspension mods....and a side profile of the "final lowering effect" of all that listed above.

Like Bob also said: Tires, especially tires and new wheels, will help tremendously.

Stock rubber sucks. Period. A stickier compound and a better tread pattern will yield better handling that stock, even using the same wheels.

However, a bigger wheel diameter with a smaller profile tire will give you less sidewall flex, and when you add a wider wheel to the equation, BAM! You've got a handler....

Of course, the stock suspension can only work so well, even with wider tires.

But when you combine better rolling stock with a more agressive suspension, you have a truck that handles on rails...

At this point, I'm going to hold back and let you ask specific questions....tell me your goals, and your budget, and I'll try to come up with a good suspension system for you, and I'll even factor in different wheels and tires.

So, ask away!